Angelenos Rise Together: Stories of Impact

As the holiday season approached, the California Community Foundation awarded $6 million in grants to 14 nonprofits providing direct assistance to Eaton and Palisades fire survivors—many of whom are heading into the holidays with depleted savings and growing concerns about affording basic necessities like food. “As we approach the holiday season, we are providing immediate relief as families struggle to meet their basic needs while also confronting the long road to rebuilding,” said CCF President and CEO Miguel Santana. While noting the critical role of philanthropy, Santana also called on the federal government to step up with large-scale investment to get survivors back in their homes

Miguel Santana was interviewed about the California Community Foundation’s latest efforts to support wildfire survivors as the holiday season approached, explaining that nearly a year after the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires the foundation awarded $6 million in grants to 14 nonprofit organizations to provide direct assistance—such as food, basic needs support, and rebuilding help—to families still struggling with depleted savings and rising debt, and he emphasized the urgency of this relief as people confront both immediate needs and “the long road to rebuilding,” saying, “As we approach the holiday season, we are providing immediate relief as families struggle to meet their basic needs while also confronting the long road to rebuilding.”

Spanish-language outlet La Opinión amplified CCF’s “Am I Next?” campaign to Latino audiences across Southern California, centering Miguel Santana’s urgent warning: “When fundamental rights are taken away, anyone can be detained, for any reason—none of us are safe.” The piece underscored the campaign’s sweeping cultural coalition, from actor-activists Edward James Olmos and George Takei to partner institutions including the Japanese American National Museum, the Museum of Latin American Art, and the Social and Public Art Resource Center—a united front spanning generations and communities who know firsthand what it means to be targeted.

California Community Foundation launched a sweeping public art campaign projecting the urgent question “Am I Next?” across the sides of downtown Los Angeles buildings—visible to thousands along the 101 Freeway—challenging the Trump administration’s immigration raids and their threat to due process for all Americans. Miguel Santana, who led the effort alongside major cultural institutions, called it a defining moment: “We ask the question in these historic moments, ‘What would I have done?’ This is that moment. This is our call to action.”

California Community Foundation President and CEO Miguel Santana joined Mayor Karen Bass to celebrate the reopening of Casa Gateway, a 100-unit complex for low- and fixed-income seniors and families in Pacific Palisades—made possible in part through CCF’s Wildfire Recovery Fund grants to several nonprofits, including The Change Reaction and CORE. The milestone brought dozens of displaced residents back home, underscoring CCF’s long-term commitment to recovery. “CCF has been around for 110 years, and we plan to be around as long as it takes until every single Angeleno is back at home,” Santana said.

The California Community Foundation made a powerful statement on behalf of Angelenos often left out of the political process, committing over $1 million to pass Proposition 50— with $850,000 directed specifically toward get-out-the-vote efforts in underserved LA communities. “We believe strongly that Angelenos in California should be engaged in the future of the community,” said Miguel Santana. “As Californians, it’s very clear that we are disproportionately impacted by the policies and strategies of this administration.” The investment was channeled through trusted grassroots organizations including California Calls Action Fund, CHIRLA Action Fund, and California Black Power Network—groups with deep roots in the communities CCF serves.